Free Agent
by Nim Maj
Summary: Hast thou experienced lust? (Yes.) Hast thou desired glory? (Yes.) Hast thou 36 57mm high velocity guns all over thy flight deck? (Ye- wait what?) Go forth young man and become legend! (What!) A Kancolle SI. Characters: SI, Ryuuhou, others. First SI.
1. Chapter 1: New Circumstances

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kantai Collection.**

**Free Agent**

**Arc 1: Tutorial**

**Chapter 1: New Circumstances**

**By Nim Maj**

**A Kantai Collection SI Fanfiction**

_Hast thou experienced lust?_ As a healthy young man I can say yes. I never acted on it though.

_Hast thou desired glory?_ Yes. Who hasn't? I'd certainly like to have my actions recognized.

_Hast thou 36 57 mm high velocity cannons on thy flight deck?_ Ye- wait what?

_Go forth young man, and become legend!_ What!?

I woke up. I stared at a sun, glaring down at me. It must be about high noon. I already hate it. I try to move my body but it feels a bit sluggish. As if something is weighing it down. I hold up my right hand in front of me and notice… an armored gauntlet.

"What the hell?" I mutter in confusion. As I get my bearings, I stand up and get a look at my body. Hey! I have a red cape! And yup, I appear to be wearing armor. A complete suit of armor to be exact. Although ungainly at first, I seem to be adjusting more easily to the weight. Nearby, I notice a helmet. It offers complete protection with a draconic theme.

I notice I have a shield strapped to my left arm. It's pretty big and heavy but lighter than it seems. I can move it easily enough. I try to take a look at the front of the shield and I notice… 36 gun turrets? There are three banks of twelve gun turrets. The gun turrets appear to be visually similar to the guns on modern warships. Each bank has three turrets side by side at the bottom facing down, another set of three just a bit higher in elevation also facing down, followed by three more just behind it facing up at the same elevation, followed by a last row facing up at a lower elevation. Each bank is lined up along the shield. The shield has design similar to that of a flight deck.

No.

HELL NO!

I've become a shipguy?!

Now it's true that not all ships are referred to using the feminine pronoun, the Russians I hear are the biggest users of the masculine when referring to their ships. But that still means I'm probably dealing with the world of Kantai Collection. Cute girls doing cute things while fighting eldritch abominations fuelled by the past grudges of the most devastating War (capitalized) the world has ever seen. Fortunately some of the eldritch beings are cute but seriously, the setting is worse than it seems. I've watched The Grudge!

And now I'm dealing with a sea full of that shit. Oceans maybe? Bah, I'm human. I'll adapt and survive.

Anyway, it's not for certain that I'm dealing with Abyssals, the enemies of the setting, but it's a good benchmark.

But first, ROB, or whatever that decided to put me here even though I hadn't die… Oh. I did die. My apartment building got blown down by a super-typhoon ala the Wizard of Oz. With me in it. Well, ROB you have my thanks that you didn't do anything dickish like _changing my gender_. I am not going to say any bad thing about you. It could be _aaannd_ I'm going to kill that thought right there.

Time to man up and get to work. I take stock of my surroundings. I'm on a deserted beach on an island and it seems pretty small. Further away it looks pretty deep. Now, if I'm a ship_man_, then I can walk on water. Doing so will drain my fuel, but I have to experiment to find out what I can do. Although I do wonder what exactly I am armed with. Ah! Hello instinctive knowledge! Yup. Thirty-six 57 mm high velocity cannons good for anti-ship, surface, and anti-air. I need to compare it in the future though. I don't know if what I've got is good or bad. It doesn't seem good for much armor penetration though so I should probably stay away from battleships.

Wait, I'm a carrier, even without a proper flight deck. Am I carrying…? What?

* * *

I think I retreated from reality for a moment there. I need to focus on getting familiar with my abilities. As I step out onto the water, it kicks up in an effect, as if something is bigger than my foot. I turn back, grab my spear, slip on my helmet and take to the water for my sea trials. Huh, it's like rollerblading. Good thing I know how to do that.

* * *

It's in the midst of exploring what I was capable of that I finally realized that I have radar. I met my first kanmusu/shipgirl that way. I figured out radar when I all of a sudden realized that something was passing nearby. I was doing a modest… 30 knots? I detected a presence nearby. I automatically tracked it even if I didn't know what it was or how I was tracking it. I figured it was pretty big. However, that big presence on my senses was quickly followed by a much smaller one. It was weird. Then I noticed a beeping coming from my hand. Looking down I noticed a "watch" that had a face that looked like a circular radar screen. A line was going around and around like a single clock hand. I immediately identified it as my radar.

Just in case, I tried out a ping of sonar to see if I had one. No dice. Got to watch out for subs then.

Returning my attention to the radar screen, I noted that at the current course, the two blips would pass in front of me without me ever getting near them. They would pass me by. I'm not actually quite sure how far they are from me. I was debating on whether or not to identify myself to them. In the end, I decided to know if they were enemies or not by hailing them on all frequencies.

"Attention unidentified ships… uh, ahoy?" I need to work on my ship identification protocols. I had to wait a bit before I heard a response.

"Unidentified ship, identify ya'self." I heard on the radio. Wow, that is one… interesting accent.

"Uhm, independent ship…" I realized that I didn't know my original name. Instead, I simply recalled a new designation for my new life: Free Agent From Not Immediate Reality or F.A.F.N.I.R. Oh man, even though I remember being human and teaching kids, I can't remember my own name! I guess this is who I am now. "…Fafnir. Sorry for the wrong identification protocols. I'm actually a civilian." I had to wait a bit more before receiving a reply.

" Independent ship Fafnir, state ya' purpose." The girl replied.

"Uhm, I'm lost and would like to join up with you?" I asked. "Please." In a bit, the same person replied.

"Can't Fafnir. We're currently on an important mission and we can't slow down for ya'."

"Oh is that all?" I asked. "No problem, I'll just catch up then." With that, I increased my speed to 50 knots and began closing the distance.

"Are ya' kidding me? Civilian ships can't reach our military speeds!" she replied.

"Oh. I guess it's because I'm only technically or legally a civilian ship. I'm not in the military." I don't remember joining any navy in recent times. And I have no idea of this Wilkia that supposedly came up with my design. It sounds fake.

After some time, I spotted them. One was a tall girl with blue hair and the other was wearing a light blue kimono. "Coming up on your right." I radioed them. I saw the blue-haired one point her guns at me. I simply waved in reply.

As I got nearer, I could make out more details. I settled in next to them with blue-hair between me and kimono-girl.

The blue-haired girl was wearing a sailor-fuku with rolled up sleeves and a white beret. She had a very short black pleated skirt with a white line near the bottom edge going around the skirt. Thinking back to my knowledge of Kancolle, I think her name ends in –kaze. There's so many that I get them mixed up. Oh right, rolled sleeves means she's probably… Urakaze?

The teal (not light blue I think) kimono wearer was carrying a girl in her arms. Judging from her swimsuit, the carried girl was probably a submarine. I would have read her name on the front of her swimsuit but it was covered in blood. I easily recognized her as Iku though, otherwise known as I-19 because of her weird blue and pink hair and aside from her bloody uniform she was wearing nothing else.

Kimono girl's equipment was also an aircraft carrier's flight deck but it looked segmented. It wasn't straight. Her bow was carried behind her. Her quiver was half full I guess. I don't think she's a standard carrier though. I know all of them by sight and name. The new ones… not so well. She had dark hair that I hesitate to call black and pinkish red-eyes.

They were eyeing me warily since I was armed, armored, and faster than them considering they were doing 25 knots, probably slightly slowed by Iku.

"Ya weren't kidding me." Urakaze said in surprise and a little alarm.

We gazed awkwardly at each other for a moment. "Okay, hold on a sec" I said as I stowed my spear on my back and took off my helmet. I made a short bow while keeping up with them. "Independent ship Fafnir. Sorry about this. I'm a little lost. I am glad to see others in this sea." I greeted them and tried to disarm them with a relieved smile.

"How are ya' a civilian ship with that kind a' guns?" Urakaze asks incredulously while pointing at my flight deck.

"Ehehe," I chuckle embarrassedly before deadpanning "No one in their right mind would put guns in the middle of the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. It just defeats the purpose." I shook my head before asking, "May I know who I'm talking to?"

"Oh uh," the blue haired one began, "Urakaze, Kagerou-class destroyer." She keeps her eyes on me.

"Ryuuhou." The kimono-clad carrier replies. And that is a sweet voice! "I wish we could meet in better times." she says timidly. "But as you can see, we need help with Iku here." She says miserably.

"So… you need a drydock or a repair ship?" I ask.

"Yes. So I'm sorry we can't help you."

I close my eyes and wave her concern off. "I'm feeling safer just being near you. I was being honest when I said I'm a civilian ship. I found myself in these waters with no visible reason as to why." I opened my eyes just in time to catch a shared look between Ryuuhou and Urakaze. "I've never actually fired my guns yet." I remarked. "Being near professional soldiers is… reassuring." I assured them.

"That… actually sounds like what happened to us." Ryuuhou says sadly.

"Hmmm, do you also remember dying?" I ask, taking a shot in the dark.

That gets the attention of the two. They eye me warily again. "That's… actually true." Ryuuhou says carefully.

I nod and start to put on my helmet. "Then as people in the same boat, err circumstances, allow me to help you. You need to find allies?"

"Ya'. More friends means we can deal with those freaky ship girls and fish things."

"Freaky fish things?" I clarify before turning to Iku. "Did they hurt her?" I ask.

"Yes," Ryuuhou answers. "they attacked without warning simply telling us to sink."

"Alright, I have even more reason to stick with you." I declared. I turned my attention to my radar. Hopefully I could find new contacts and warn Ryuuhou of their presence. Although I was a battlecarrier, I didn't carry any scouts. What I did carry was… weird.

"Thank you." Ryuuhou said in relief. "Ano…" she started hesitantly.

"Yes?" I said while turning my attention to her.

"How will you help?" she asked hesitantly.

"Ya', have ya' got radar or something?" Urakaze asked me.

"Uhm, yeah." I said wait let me check. I closed my eyes to try and get information on my radar system. "Huh, SK, SC, Sg and Mark 4?" I turned to them and asked. "Does that make sense to you?"

Urakaze looked annoyed. "Again! Why don't we have more of that?!" she muttered.

I looked at Ryuuhou. "Is there something I missed?"

Ryuuhou looked down, trying to avoid my gaze. "The Imperial Japanese Navy had some problems implementing radar." She said. I suspected she was trying not to say anything specific.

"Huh, ok." I turned my attention back to my radar watch. I was soon alerted to new contacts. They seemed to be moving fast… for them. "New contacts" I told Ryuuhou.

She perked up at that. "Can you tell how far?"

"Uh sorry, I'm rather new to operating radar. I can tell you that at their and our current courses and headings, unless they have radar and spot us they might pass us by."

Ryuuhou looked downcast.

I decided to help her out. "The problem is: we don't know if they are friendly or hostile. You could send an air recon force to see if they're friendly or not and radio them our position if they are. If not, we can possibly go undetected. Alternatively, we could radio them, but doing so might lead to radio intercepts or whatever. They might track us back either way if we do."

Ryuuhou was looking down in contemplation. She also seemed to be looking at the injured and unconscious Iku. She looked up at me.

Hmmm. I think she is having trouble trusting me. If she sends a force, she has to give Iku to someone else. If she gives Iku to Urakaze, I would be free to blindside her. If she gives Iku to me, I could have a hostage. "How many are there?" She asked. I checked my radar again.

"I think… maybe five destroyers or light cruisers or…." I tried before I gave up. "Honestly, it's a moderate sized blob of contacts. It could be three heavy cruisers. I don't think it's big enough for a battleship or a carrier. They do seem to be in a close formation"

Ryuuhou looks down again. However, she soon makes up her mind. "Okay. I'll send a recon force." She turns to me. "Please hold on to Iku." She says offering her to me. I nod and take Iku into my arms. We wait as Ryuuhou sends a single flight of planes (I'm not good enough to recognize the type) to identify the contacts. Soon she smiles with relief. "Hamakaze, Yuugumo, Makigumo, Uzuki, and Akashi-san." she quietly informs us. Urakaze breaks out into a smile too. Hamakaze, a sister?

"Really?! Hamakaze?!" she asks Ryuuhou who nods as she seems to finally let go, as if she no longer carries a heavy burden. "They're waving at my fairy. I'll radio them."

Then my watch beeps as it detects new contacts. "Uhm, Urakaze," I start hesitantly. Do you think you could take Iku first? My radar just detected new contacts. I need to check them."

"Sure." she says and moves to get Iku. After handing her off I check my radar and notice the pretty big blob of new targets.

"Uhm… Ryuuhou-san?" I begin before looking at her and noticing her paling face.

"They're being chased by a large force." She informs us breathlessly.

I take a second look at the growing blob of contacts on my radar. "That's… yeah. That's a lot." I confirm.

She turns to me. "Fafnir-san, can you help?" She asks desperately.

I nod. "Yeah. If your allies are under attack I'll do what I can." I raise my shield. "They may look small but these guns have armor piercing ammunition. They probably won't go through a battleship's armor though. Plus, I'm a battlecarrier. Unlike regular carriers, I can take hits and dish them out. My armor is pretty thick though I don't have any comparison."

"How thick is it?" she asks.

"Um, 31 centimeters at the belt?" Ryuuhou and Urakaze look at me in incredulity. "Uhm, is that bad?"

"Fafnir-san," Ryuuhou begins, "Nagato-san has 30.5 centimeters of armor plating along her belt. She's a battleship."

I blink in surprise. "Oh. Cool." I nod. "Then I guess I'll reinforce them while you provide air cover?" I suggest.

* * *

"…Did you see?" Ryuuhou asked Urakaze as Fafnir left. He was going at crazy speeds.

"Yeah. He's got a letter pinned to the back of his cape."

"…Should we tell him?"

"Mmm, Yup. Maybe tell the others to tell him before they attack."

"Right."

* * *

"Ahoy!" I greeted the destroyers and repair ship as soon as I caught up.

Hamakaze was a white-haired Kagerou-class destroyer I was told. She had a uniform similar to Urakaze but was worn properly. She also wore black pantyhose.

Yuugumo had green hair, white long-sleeved collared shirt, a purplish school uniform with a dull teal bow. At least I think its teal. I think she's wearing steel-gray pantyhose too. She's the nameship of the Yuugumo-class destroyers.

Makigumo is Yuugumo's younger sister and she's short. She has brown or pink hair, I can't quite tell. Her eyes stand out because they're yellow and her uniform is the same as her sister's but it seems to be too big for her.

Uzuki is a Mutsuki-class destroyer. She has pinkish-red hair, a yellow crescent moon clipped to her hair, and wears a dark-blue sailor uniform with black collar and skirt with pinkish-purplish frills at the bottom edges of the skirt.

They surrounded Akashi, a shipgirl who was taller than them. She had pink hair, a white sailor uniform and navy-blue skirt and collar. She had cranes on her back along with armor plates scattered over her body.

"Hi! So you're Fafnir? Our reinforcement?" Akashi asked brightly.

"Aye mam. I.S. Fafnir. I've joined up with Ryuuhou-san for mutual protection. Pleased to meet you." I introduced myself.

Akashi inspects my armaments critically. She whistles appreciatively. "That's a rather unique design. Is it effective?"

"We'll find out. But I'm confident I can take on anything that isn't a battleship. Speaking of which, do you know the composition of your pursuers?"

Akashi grimaces. "Around seventeen ships. 3 heavy cruisers, 5 light cruisers and 9 destroyers we think. That's what we can tell from their guns. We found an uninhabited island with abandoned facilities and were planning to stay there but these things showed up."

I nod. "Then you know the plan?"

"Yeah, Ryuuhou briefed us. But, are you sure you can take them?"

I nod again. "I was told I'm essentially a battleship with a lot of smaller guns. I've got armor piercing shells and if things get hairy, I can launch fighter/bombers to help me. Ryuuhou-san has also launched a wave of torpedo bombers. I'll distract them first, then you hit them from the side while Ryuuhou-san hits them from above."

"Battleship? Are you serious? No way. How thick is your armor?" Yuugumo asks in disbelief.

"31 centimeters." I say before I notice Ryuuhou's planes have caught up. "Alright, operation begins. Look for your opportunity!" I tell them before breaking off and heading straight for the enemy fleet. I accelerate to attack speed.

"… Really?" Yuugumo asks thin air.

"Oh." Akashi notes." I just remembered. We forgot to tell him about the letter." Shaking her head, she begins reorganizing the destroyers. "Let's get ready to do our part girls."

* * *

The plan was rather simple. I would charge in first guns blazing and break through their lines. Once past, I would turn left and flank them on their right. Hopefully they would try to mob me. Either way, their attention would be split facing two enemies, me and Akashi's group. Then, while they are distracted, Ryuuhou's bombers would hit them from the air. Fortunately, they didn't have any air cover or battleships so I was pretty confident I could last until Akashi's group could put torpedoes in them. Although I was nervous, I took comfort in the fact that I could tank shots like the best of them. I just hoped I didn't need to deploy fighters 'cause then… yeah, they were just too surreal.

As soon as I got in range I opened fire. Fortunately, I seemed to have an autotracking capability, the guns were automated and began targeting everything. I had to tilt my shield up at an angle so that I could maximize the firing arcs. I also began taking fire but they were kind of spotty.

In my run up to their front lines I picked out a destroyer as the target of my spear. I guess I surprised them when I got in close because their fire became more sporadic. Then I was in the midst of them. One light cruiser actually tried to block my path. I shield bashed her and sent her flying. A destroyer charged at me mouth open but I stabbed it with my spear.

Huh. I think I'm really strong too cause I didn't feel the need to let go of my spear. I was able to easily wrench it out of its mouth as I passed. Then I was through. I increased my speed to flank and began turning left. All this time my guns kept firing.

As soon as I took up position on their right flank, I really focused on them. They seemed to be confused. I throttled down on my speed to match their and took manual control of my guns so I could focus on them one by one.

When I opened up with all my guns on a single target, I was surprised by how fast they reloaded. A destroyer was sunk after 3 seconds of sustained bombardment. It looked like a continuous stream of shells. Like machine gun fire except from 36 machine guns firing in concert. It took about 50 shells before exploding. _Then_ it was hit by _about_ 50 more.

I switched target and sunk another destroyer after 4 seconds. Another destroyer 4 more seconds after that. I changed targets to a cruiser and it took maybe 7 seconds to blow. Another destroyer went down 4 seconds after that.

That's when I tried to take out my first heavy cruiser. It lasted about 9 seconds of sustained continuous bombardment.

Holy crap their armor is light! They're melting away under hundreds of shells. Huh, maybe that was the point. At that point in time the torpedoes from Akashi's group finally hit. I don't even think the bombers had to finish them off. But they tried anyway.

Damn. I think I could have taken them all on. I wonder who came up with this design.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Hello readers! It's been over two years I think since I wrote a story or even updated. Real Life left me busy. But now, I'm unemployed and on summer vacation! I'm no longer a full time teacher but I'll take up Masters this coming school year.

In regard to my other stories, well it doesn't look good. I don't intend to follow up Herald of the Void because Games Workshop retconned the Necrons. Void Tyrant is waiting on inspiration. Unfortunately I can't play the game that inspired me in the first place. I'd need a better computer first. So we're looking at least a few years unless I can get my hands on the tabletop game.

Now for this story. I'm sure some of you are wondering about why I would write a story about Kantai Collection? The answer is: it combines two of my favorite subjects: Anime/Manga and History. I am a history teacher and even graduated a history major. And Kancolle is deeply tied to history. (I wish it would come out on the iPad so I can get the game.) The cute girls are certainly a bonus.

I also wanted to finally try my hand at a Self-Insert. I wanted to explore what I would do in these circumstances. This is new ground for me and will be largely written in the 1st person POV but with a few inserts in the 3rd person POV. Please note however, that I am also rusty. I hope I can entertain!

So, about my new body: I was largely inspired by the design by karbengo. I suggest you search on youtube his Let's Play Warship Gunner 2 Chapter 31: Covered by Ashes. He introduces a ridiculous battlecarrier design based on cramming a crapton of small modern guns all over the flight deck. He then proceeds to easily wipe out all the enemies on the map including battleships.

I didn't transfer all the innovations he came up with nor did I introduce the game mechanics which lets you launch regular planes on a blocked up deck. It's just not realistic. But don't worry, my fighters take off vertically and are not helicopters or Harriers. They're weirder. I think some of you can guess based on karbengo's comments. If you watch his later episodes you stand a better chance of figuring it out.

So here are my (approximate) stats (tentative): (mix of Wikipedia and Kancolle style)

HP 85

Firepower 4 (15) [36x]

Armor 70 (89)

Torpedo 0

Evasion 45 (75)

AA 84 (130)

Aircraft 6

ASW 0

Speed Very Fast

LOS 60 (110)

Range Short

Luck 15 (50)

Hull: Essex-class aircraft carrier (WW2)

Speed: ~59 knots (perfect conditions = 109.268 Kmh, 67.896 mph)

Armament:

Slot 1: 36x 57mm high velocity guns (auto-fire)

Slot 2: 6 aircraft (currently ignoring)

Slot 3: Essex Radar Suite (SK, SC, SG, mk. 4)

Slot 4: Repair Team

And Kai will make me stronger! ^^


	2. Chapter 2: The Chuck Islands

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kantai Collection.**

**Free Agent**

**Chapter 2: The Chuck Islands**

**By Nim Maj**

**A Kantai Collection SI Fanfiction**

After the battle I inspected the corpses of our enemies. I made sure they were dead by poking them with my spear. Then we regrouped together.

"Hey! Nice job!" Akashi praised me.

"Thank you." I said. "That was… intense. I did better than I expected."

"It seemed kinda crazy, just rushing into the midst of them like that."

"I felt confident in my armor. I was trying to move too fast for them to torpedo me. That's what I was worried about."

"Heh, well it worked out. Speaking of fast, what's with that speed?"

"Yeah! That was crazy fast pyon!" Uzuki complained, the Mutsuki-class destroyer.

I nodded in affirmation. "I'm actually worried. Most carriers are hard on fuel. If I go so fast, that means there must be a trade-off in fuel consumption."

"True, but getting where you need to be is important too." Hamakaze added. "By the way, you weren't around for long but we were told you have something on your back."

"Huh?" I replied in confusion before trying to look behind me. I stopped the futile effort though and just turned my back to face them. "Uhm, can one of you get it?" I asked.

"Sure." Hamakaze replied while suiting deed to word. "You wanna open it?"

I turned back around. "Yeah sure. Can one of you hold my spear?" I asked, while offering it. Akashi took it and began inspecting it. Meanwhile, I took off my helmet and hung it on a strap for that purpose. I took the envelope and began opening it.

"You know, I think this is the first time I've seen a ship_guy_." Yuugumo offered.

"Meh," I offered noncommitantly. "This is the first time I've _been_ a shipguy. Before, I was human. I completely remember teaching people." I add distractedly.

"Eh? You're not a ship?" Makigumo asked in confusion.

"Wasn't. Now I am." I just decided to quickly tear open one side. I inspect the contents which turn out to be a map. It showed several chains of islands. In the middle was an island chain with a big X on it. To its south and east was a small island with START labeling it. To the north of the X was an island chain with a 1 on it. To the west of the X was an island chain with a 2 on it. To the south, an island chain with a 3. East was a big skull.

"Huh, a map." I say while showing it to the gathered shipgirls.

"Really? That's useful." They too began to inspect it.

Now began a round of confused wondering and opinions. Too little made sense. I felt that we should go to the X-marked island though. It was centrally located to where we found ourselves. Soon Ryuuhou, Urakaze, and Iku caught up. Iku was handed to Akashi who began first aid with the help of Makigumo. Urakaze and Hamakaze had a joyful reunion. Ryuuhou, Yuugumo, Uzuki, and I deliberated on the map.

"I'm sorry we couldn't tell you about the letter." Ryuuhou apologized. I simply waved it off.

"It's alright. I didn't even know it was there. Plus, your comrades would have been more important than a letter at the time." Ryuuhou looked relieved. "What's important is that we now have a lead." I prompted. "Although suspicious, we don't have anything else."

"Hmmm," Yuugumo interjected. "That island might be the one we fled from. What about you, Ryuuhou-san?"

"Uhm, I woke up on a tiny island. Urakaze and Iku too. We were near each other but got attacked while we were still puzzling out what was going on. We simply ran in the opposite direction."

"I also woke up on a tiny island. I was in the midst of my shakedown cruise when I detected Ryuuhou-san's group. I deviated from my course to meet up with them. Sometime after that, I detected you."

Yuugumo perked up at that. "Detected? You have radar? We didn't know anyone was nearby until we detected Ryuuhou-san's scout. We were nervous until we spotted the Hinomaru."

I nodded. "I guess that means mine is really good. But then, as a carrier, there's plenty of room for equipment I guess."

"We're getting off topic." Ryuuhou interjected. "Yuugumo-chan, do you know if that group that was following you was all they had? Is it safe to go there?"

Yuugumo shook her head. "It was only part of the force that took the island away from us. There should be maybe six left there. They didn't pursue us. I'd say something like a heavy cruiser, two light cruisers, and three destroyers." She smiled though. "But I think we can take them now."

I nod. "Air attacks to mix them up, blindside with torpedoes, finish them with guns." I say. "I just hope they don't get reinforcements. That would ruin our day. Especially with only one light carrier and… my stuff." I finish lamely.

"Fafnir-san…" Ryuuhou says slowly. "I don't think you have to be ashamed of anything. Although I do find it odd that you can launch anything with… well." She gestures at my blocked flight deck.

"My fighters can take off like autogyros." I clarify. "It's just… I'm trying to deny their existence until I can properly deal with them. They… bring into question current beliefs about life, the universe, everything."

"The heck do you mean pyon?" Uzuki broke in.

"Don't worry. I'll launch them if I have to. I'd rather not deal with the sanity damage right now."

"You're weird pyon." I just shrug my shoulders before turning to Ryuuhou. "We do need a base of operations. I'm also worried about my fuel situation. I don't know how much I've got left but my speed probably means I don't have as much storage for fuel. I was probably not designed for long distance missions." Ryuuhou nodded at that.

She quickly arranged for a recon flight. We got on our way back to the island Akashi's group had run away from. The recon flight however brought surprising news. They were Naganami, Maikaze, Hatsukaze, Amatsukaze, Tanikaze, and Yamagumo. Although hurt, they had succeeded in wiping out the six defenders. None got away uninjured but they could still run if they had to.

* * *

"That's surprising" I noted as the destroyers had their reunion.

From what Ryuuhou told me Maikaze, Hatsukaze, Amatsukaze, and Tanikaze were all Kagerou-class destroyers but they varied wildly in their uniforms.

Maikaze and Hatsukaze had a dark gray vest over a white button up shirt and matching dark gray skirt. They had white gloves. Maikaze was a cheerful blonde, her hair done up in twintails angled backward with green eyes. She also had a red bow tying her collar closed.

Hatsukaze had long light gray hair with a bluish tint to it that fell straight down. Her bow was yellow.

Tanikaze had similar clothes to Hamakaze and Urakaze. She was however, shorter, and hand short brown hair.

Amtasukaze differed greatly from the others with her long gray hair, and brownish-black one-piece long sleeved sailor uniform.

Naganami is a Yuugumo-class destroyer similar to her sister Yuugumo and Makigumo. She had similar clothing but her long hair was mostly black but somehow was pink on the inside.

Yamagumo is an Asashio-class destroyer. She greatly differed with her white button-up shirt, gray skirt and suspenders, a green and white bow, and green headband attached to radio antennas I believe. Her hair was also a bluish gray.

It was Yamagumo who was reporting to Ryuuhou and I. "What's surprising mister?" she said in a relaxed tone.

"That you took on a force more heavily armed than you, and won. I'm impressed."

"Heehee. Thanks mister. But who are you?"

"Independent ship Fafnir. It's a pleasure to meet you." I introduced myself.

"Hm? Oh, I'm Yamagumo. Sixth Asashio-class destroyer. Please treat me well." She replied with a short bow.

"Yamagumo-san then." I said. This however, invoked a blush on Yamagumo.

"Oh my, please call me Yamagumo-chan, Fafnir-san. As a carrier you're our elder and sempai, it's your right."

I looked at Ryuuhou for confirmation who nodded. "Very well. However, I would like the chance to get the opinions of the others before addressing them with such familiarity." I conceded.

"Okay~" Yamagumo said playfully.

With that done, Ryuuhou, Yamagumo, and I turned our attention to the island we were on. The island was was shaped like a cross between an X and an H, literally a sort of X marks the spot island. It was pretty large and heavily forested with jungle. One side, where the destroyers and Abyssals took shelter had another island on its easter end blocking the view of the bay, sheltering it from storms. It to was large enough to sport some vegetation.

It seemed that the island had suddenly sprung to life. Out of the jungle streamed fairies that began constructing facilities. Heading straight to us however, was a delegation of fairies that were pointing in the direction of the jungle.

"Do you think they want us to go there?" I asked Ryuuhou.

"Perhaps. The feeling I'm getting is that there is something important in the jungle." She said unsurely.

I nodded my head. "It would be best to explore the jungle, just to make sure there are no surprises." With that, we headed in after telling Yamagumo to inform the others once they finish with their reunion.

* * *

Not too far in the jungle was a shrine. Now, unlike the traditional stereotypical shrine, although it followed the Japanese style, the materials all seemed to be… the forest itself. That's right. If the forest itself came alive and intertwined to shape a Japanese shrine, that's what it was before us. It also wasn't too hard to spot, what with the clusters of will-o-wisps all over the place. It was also small enough to be a bird house. Sitting under the torii (shrine gates) was a black-haired fairy dressed like a miko. I noticed her skirt was blue to denote a high rank.

As we got closer, our noise caused her to wake from her nap. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and gazed up at us with a dopey smile.

"Greeting travelers! At last you have come! Welcome to the Chuck islands!"

I blinked. To understand my surprise you have to think: Do the fairies talk? The answer is some do, but most communicate telepathically. As supernatural creatures, you can simply lump how they communicate under "it's magic." Or they communicate heart-to-heart. I heard that in the game some fairies do talk, but most don't. They aren't really in a position to. That said, Chuck Islands? Really?

"Uhm, don't you mean Truk?" Ryuuhou asked. The fairy emphatically shook her head and crossed her arms in front of her.

"No! These islands are based off the Chu-uk Islands." She said pronouncing the second "u" clearly. "You've been saying wrong all this time because it is easier to pronounce."

"Uhm, miss fairy, does that mean we are not on Earth?" I asked.

"Call me Miko." The fairy asked while posing proudly, hands on her hips in a pose reminiscent of Superman, with her eyes closed, chin in the air and a smug smile. "And to answer your question, not quite."

Miko elaborated. "This world is one created to deal with the unresolved issues of the dead." She pointed at Ryuuhou, "That means you and your comrades. Your feelings of dread, despair, fear, anger, hate and more are preventing you from moving on and continuing on the cycle of reincarnation. This is your chance to deal with your past, to gain enlightenment, to attain peace."

I raised my hand. "Pardon Miko… sama, but that doesn't sound like me."

"Of course," she grinned, "because you are here to help them through this time… _sensei_." She said, placing special emphasis on the title.

Ryuuhou actually perked up at that. "You're a teacher?" She asked.

"Uhm, yeah. Licensed and all."

"Ah, then, we'll be in your care Fafnir-sensei." She said with a short bow.

"And I in yours." I said before turning to Miko. "So who or what are the things we've met that have attacked us?" I asked.

"They are the Abyssals. They are the manifestations of your regrets and negative emotions. If you do not succeed against them, you will continue to be reborn in a never-ending struggle against them. Truly, a form of hell."

Well crap. At least if we fail, try, try again. "Is there a catch if we do fail?" I probed.

Miko nodded sadly. "Each time you fail, you lose more and more of your memories to the Abyss. You grow weaker, they stronger, and you lose a sense of yourself. If you ask around, not all girls have complete memories, only their strongest ones remain intact. Even then, some have highly traumatic deaths that they would rather forget."

"I see."

"However, you only need to succeed once. So long as they are at peace, they can move on."

"Uh, define "at peace."

Miko spread out her hands. "This entire world was created to reenact one of the greatest battles of the Pacific War. A battle that changed everything, and doomed an empire." She said grandly.

Ryuuhou had gone still. "A battle that changed everything, and doomed an empire." I echoed with narrowed eyes. "The turning point of the war?"

"Yes."

"I'm guessing but, its Midway isn't it?"

"Hai." I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning to her, I noticed that she seemed to have shrunk into herself, trying to make herself look smaller. This was probably shocking to her.

"So what do we do?" I asked Miko.

"Reenact the Battle of Midway… and **win.**" She declared with finality.

"Realistically speaking, the IJN could have won that battle if it weren't for a series of lucky decisions."

Miko nodded. "This is true, and known in their heads…" She said while tapping a finger to her head. "But not in their hearts." She said while moving her hand down to tap her heart. "It has weighed heavily on their souls." She then bowed deeply to me. "Please, help them to win. Help them pass on. I beg you."

This was making me a bit uncomfortable. To be honest, this was a no brainer. I sighed. "I have nothing better to do. And this does sound like a good cause. Very well. I'll help them."

Miko brightened up at that. "Oh thank you! Your benefactor truly chose well."

I grimaced at that. Apparently she may know who sent me here, but first things first. "So how do we go about winning Midway?"

"Do you have the map?" She asked.

"Ryuuhou-san?" I prompted, as I had given her the map to keep.

"Oh, yes." She said as she produced the map and laid it out before us.

"The X marks the Chuck Islands in the center. Each of the numbers in the nearby archipelago marks the location of a key ship you need to properly reenact the Battle of Midway. The skull marks Halfway island, the stand-in for Midway."

"Halfway Island? Really? Couldn't you come up with a better name?" I asked not believing they gave it such a corny name.

Miko just smiled. "I didn't name them."

I pressed on. "So who are these ships? Historically, four aircraft carriers were at Midway. I guess I could count as one and Ryuuhou two, but does that mean we have two more to get? But we have three places so that doesn't make sense."

"Ah, but there **was** a fleet under Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku that didn't get involved since they were too slow. This is one instance of how you can change the outcome of the battle."

"I see. Also, historically, the aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu were the ones involved in the battle: are they here?"

Miko shook her head. "Unfortunately no. you must make do with the other two carriers that you find, and yourselves." I guess that means I count as an aircraft carrier.

"I see. And the last one?"

"Unfortunately, all I know is that she will stand in for the battleships that could not fight."

"Right, one last question: How can I understand you?" I asked something which was bothering me since the start. "As far As I know, I am speaking English, but I can understand all of you though you seem to speak Japanese. How does that happen." Ryuuhou too seemed taken aback at this. Miko seemed amused.

"Hold out your right hand, flat and palm down next your left ear like this." She said while putting her right hand next to the left side of her head. I did after leaning my spear on a tree and to my surprise, I felt to small points of pressure on my hand. I slowly pulled my hand in front of me while leaning back to look at my hand and there, standing on it was a fairy with glasses. She seemed to be holding a Japanese flag in one hand, and a flag of the United Kingdom in the other. Ah. I get it.

A translation fairy.

* * *

The meeting wrapped up after that. We headed back to the camp though I made a mental note to go back to her if we needed help or clarifications.

Ryuuhou explained things to the others but placed greater emphasis on finding our comrades first, before talking about why we were here. She wanted the others to also weigh in on the decision to fight Midway or not. There were several daunting prospects to that all things considered, but that was for another day.

The following day, I saw her set out for the first destination, the northern islands. Ryuuhou took Urakaze, Hamakaze, Yuugumo, Makigumo, Uzuki, Naganami, Maikaze, Yamagumo, and Iku who was recently repaired to find our comrades.

Akashi would stay in the Chuck Islands with me, Amatsukaze, Tanikaze, and Hatsukaze, the most heavily injured girls from yesterday. Akashi would finish their repairs one by one after Ryuuhou would have left. Ryuuhou wanted me to come, but I expressed concern regarding our supply problem. I volunteered to do inventory and get Akashi to help me find out my fuel consumption. We had limited supplies. We had to scavenge everything. I expressed hope that they would find more resources while they were out.

While I inspected the buildings, I had Amatsukaze, the first repaired destroyer to keep on the lookout. My radar could keep a watch for surface and air threats, but I wanted her to watch for submarines making a raid on us.

The fairies were busy since yesterday. The first thing they constructed was a barracks so we could sleep. Then There was a warehouse that could store our supplies. It was pretty big but only partially stocked. I estimated about a week's worth of steel, ammunition, fuel and bauxite, depending on our consumption.

A mess hall was being assembled at the moment and judging by the bags of rice, at least we will have food. I don't know about meat though. If there's no meat, then morale will be in trouble. Fishing… maybe.

A workshop had already been constructed right next to a bathhouse. It was the second one constructed, so as long as we provide resources, we can easily repair. Akashi was inside the workshop repairing the outfits of the girls however.

I then investigated the jungle but found nothing new.

I was making my way back to the beach when my radar picked up contacts. I hurried to the beach where Amatsukaze was waiting. It seemed Tanikaze had also finished repairing.

They called out to me when they saw me hurrying back.

"Sensei, why are you in a hurry?" Amatsukaze asked. Yeah, I'm gonna have to get used to that. Word had finally gotten around that I was an actual teacher.

"I picked up new contacts. They're coming in from the southeast." That alarmed them. "They're still kind of far but I don't think they're very many."

"They don't seem to be from group three though," Amatsukaze mused. "They would come from the south if they were."

"Unless they met up like we did. It's farfetched though. About two of them if I'm reading this right." I added as I looked at my radar.

"Should we contact them? We outnumber them if they turn out to be Abyssals." I offered.

"Eh? Sensei?" Tanikaze asked in confusion.

"You girls are still military while I'm a civilian. I'll defer to your judgment in this."

"Uhm…" The girls looked at each other. "Yah, I think it's safe." Tanikaze opined. "And besides, even if they turn out to be battleships, we have you right?"

"Yes. But judging from their speed, they probably aren't battleships. They're moving pretty fast. And they're too small to be carriers."

"Alright. I'll radio them." Amatsukaze said. "Attention, approaching ships, this is Imperial Japanese Naval Base Chuck Island, identify yourselves." She paused to wait for a reply while looking out to sea in the direction of the incoming ships.

I was able to catch their reply on an IJN frequency I was given. "We're saved pya! Chuck Base, this is Sakawa! I'm here with Akigumo! Please prepare defenses! Battleships are right behind us!"

Amatsukaze and Tanikaze stilled at that. "S-say again Sakawa? Battleships? How many?" Amatsukaze replied.

"Four battleships pya! They're carrying these big shields with guns on 'em!"

Mother of god….

* * *

Author's Notes:

I just wanna say that I'm also running rather long games while I'm writing this story. Civ5 is still my favorite game and it doesn't get old, especially with new civilization mods.

I'm also preparing to move to my grandparent's place since she's alone their and conveniently located next ot a good university where I can take my Masters.

So, has anyone guessed what my "fighters" are? It shouldn't be too hard but they can't use the flight deck (much) because of all the crap littering the middle and they aren't Harriers. They are also not duckplanes. They vertically take off and land and can damage SAN. I'm asking cause I'm gonna have to use them next chapter!

If anyone has a good strategy for taking on four Ru-class battleships and two destroyers with a handful of destroyers, a light cruiser, a battlecarrier, and a repair ship I'd like to hear your ideas. ^^


	3. Chapter 3: Battleships

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kantai Collection.**

**Free Agent**

**Chapter 3: Battleships**

**By Nim Maj**

**A Kantai Collection SI Fanfiction**

Four battleships. Four. I'd feel more confident against one or two but even I doubt I'd last long against four battleships pounding away at me.

Amatsukaze and Tanikaze were panicking. Amatsukaze was doing so quietly. Tanikaze less so.

"Wh-what do we do?!" she said while grabbing her head in both hands.

"L-let's just calm down and think."

"Hmmm, let's see: we've got three destroyers, a repair ship, and a battlecarrier. Who's Sakawa and the other girl? Akigumo?" I helped.

"Sakawa's a light cruiser of the Agano-class. Akigumo is a Kagerou-class destroyer like me." Amatsukaze answered.

"I see. Who has torpedoes among us?"

"I do, as does Hatsukaze. Why?" Amatsukaze asked. "Are you planning on fighting them?"

I grimaced. "I have to know if we CAN fight them." I said. "I don't want to give up Chuck Island if we don't have to. Do they have air support?"

"Let me check." Amatsukaze said and radioed Sakawa. I turned to Tanikaze.

"Tanikaze-chan, can you get Akashi and Hatsukaze, we need their input."

"Sure thing." She said before hurrying away.

"The Abyssals don't have air support. It's just four battleships and two destroyers they think. The fish type with guns in their mouths."

I nodded. "Victory is possible then. It depends on their actions though. We need to quickly come up with a way to get them in position for an ambush."

"Hmmm, back and front? No, too high chance of friendly fire, maybe three directions?" I mused out loud.

"I'll probably have to deploy my fighters though."

"Can fighters do anything against battleships?"

"Mine can. They're not your regular fighters."

"If you say so…" she commented unsurely.

"I'll show you all when everyone is here."

When Tanikaze returned with Akashi and Hatsukaze, I outlined my plan.

Chuck was an X/H shaped island with a crescent shaped neighbor to the East. Both were forested, the neighbor slightly less so being smaller, yet big enough for a sheltered harbor between the two islands. Sakawa's group and their pursuers were coming from the southwest. If they went straight to the harbor, they would meet up with us. The problem was the pursuers. They probably heard Sakawa talking to someone even if they didn't know the contents. Without air support, they could either be brave or discreet (retreat). If they were smart and expected reinforcements for Sakawa, they would send the two destroyers ahead to scout. If they were less smart, they would charge in all together. If they tried to be cunning, they could divide their forces, two battleships going after Sakawa and two going around to try to cut off her retreat and possibly catch us in crossfire. If they were stupid, they would all charge in to a possible trap.

* * *

It was nerve-wracking waiting for four battleships bearing down on you (and two destroyers but I feel confident about taking them). As soon as Sakawa and Akigumo joined up with me, I informed them of the plan. We couldn't chance the possibility of them breaking the codes. With Tanikaze acting as a scout on the southern part of the island, hidden in the jungle, she would inform me of what path they took. Amatsukaze and Hatsukaze were in the jungle as part of the ambush force, closing on them from behind. They were also on the main part of Chuck Island. The second part of the ambush was my fighters. Sakawa, Akigumo, and Akashi would act as "bait" fleeing north As if escorting a VIP. If they wanted Sakawa, Akigumo and Akashi, they would have to get through me acting as "rearguard." Actually, I was the anvil.

Although somewhat unwilling, Sakawa was eventually convinced to feign retreat with Akigumo and Akashi.

Time passed. Battleships were a bit slower than cruisers and destroyers. But with little else to go, they could eventually hunt down and sink Sakawa and Akigumo.

"I see 'em." Tanikaze radioed us. She followed that up with four clicks on her radio. One click meant they were being smart and retreating, two clicks that they were scouting first, and three clicks that they divided their forces. Four clicks meant… they were being brave or stupid and charging ahead. Maybe fighting while emotional doesn't help your higher order thinking skills. When you're angry humans tend to do rash things and Abyssals are supposed to be concentrated emotions.

Either way, good for us, bad for me. I settled in to intercept them, bracing my shield. As soon as they rounded the southern cape, Sakawa, Akashi, and Akigumo headed north through the opposite exit.

I opened fire. Wave after wave of 2 inch shells slammed into them. I fired on all of them purposely dividing my fire between them so that they couldn't get a good bead on me. But when facing all that firepower, some are bound to hit. The first wave of shells splashed around me. They must have spotted Sakawa leaving with Akashi and Akigumo.

Imagine what they are seeing: A cruiser, a destroyer, and a repair ship leave an engagement with four battleships and two destroyers, and all that's left to fight them is a bizarre armored carrier with lots of guns that don't do much damage because they can't penetrate their armor. All it's doing is preventing them from getting good ranged shots. So what do they do? They close for a point blank shot. This also allows them to make up steam to pursue Sakawa's group. Forget the weird droning sound they've begun hearing as they charge in to finish off the armored carrier.

*wuwuwuwuWUWUWUWUWU*

As they enter the bay, their line in slight disarray due to the surprising resistance of a single carrier, I trigger the trap. From the forest of the smaller island are my fighters. They exit the treeline that they were hiding in to prevent detection from radar.

Six Mark I particle beams slice into each ship. The destroyers go down immediately but the battleships tank the blasts well. It's still painful though. They turn to look at the new threat.

Six flying saucers.

Yes: six FLYING SAUCERS. They had a rotating midsection while the center was slightly ascending towards the center of the ship.

They open fire again, this time with the destroyers done for, they can focus more on the battleships. After a bit of confusion, the Abyssals raise their 16 inch guns and fire awkwardly. I'm not much of a threat, just an annoyance right now. One gets lucky and blows a saucer out of the air, but the rest start evasive maneuvers.

The Abyssals don't even see Amatsukaze and Hatsukaze running from the tree line behind them on the main island, leap into the water, get close, and start dumping every torpedo they have into their backs. Amatsukaze, first, then Hatsukaze next, their torpedo volleys smash into the unsuspecting battleships. All are damaged with two taking heavy damage and the other two taking moderate damage.

I close in. With their armor in tatters, I first focus on the battleship nearest me. I fling about a thousand 57mm shells at her. It takes me about thirty to thirty-five seconds. All this time the saucers are still firing. It doesn't take long for her to go down. I next focus on the least damaged of them. Amatsukaze and Hatsukaze haven't let up on their torpedo volleys and they also add their guns to the fray.

Surrounded on three sides, the Abyssals can only go down fighting. And boy do they: Amatsukaze and Hatsukaze face off against one battleship at point blank ranges but shells are difficult to aim while under constant fire. Like veterans, they continue moving, not presenting an easy target. Unlike me who has to tank the shots to draw fire from the less armored destroyers. It does buy time for me to finish off another battleship. But either way, the Abyssals are finished. No matter what happens, they're sunk due to the destroyers' torpedoes. We just need to wail on them until they can't hurt us anymore through suicidal attacks.

That's what happens to me. As the biggest and easiest target I got hit by two 16 inch shells and was grazed by another. It's only because I was made to take that kind of punishment that I'm not immediately sunk. But I can tell you, getting hit hurts like a HELL! It was only adrenaline and desperation that kept me firing even through the pain. I can't think much, just force my way through the pain, pouring shell after shell into them, hoping they fall first.

At the end of the battle Chuck Island remains ours.

Akashi, you're a tender goddess.

* * *

From that engagement, I was the most heavily damaged. I probably would have sunk if Akashi hadn't been nearby. I lost one flying saucer. Now **that** was an awkward conversation we had when I explained my plan.

"Soooo… flying disks?" Amatsukaze asked, unsure of what she was seeing.

"Mmmm, yeah. Even in my time I didn't think they were possible. They're just… weird I guess."

Akashi was barely containing her excitement as she inspected the flying saucer. "This is amazing! The technology here must be at least a century ahead!"

"I dunno, they're kind of cute." Tanikaze added. "Why didn't you want to talk about them?" she asked curiously.

I sighed. I reached out and tapped the top of the flying saucer. "Come on out guys. Introduce yourselves." I just hoped they didn't take this too badly.

The saucer moved down to hover at around chest level. Then the top swung out and a green triangular squid-shaped head with goggles poked out. A tentacle slithered out and saluted them.

My flying saucer fairies are squid-like aliens with tentacles.

There was a reason why I was hesitant to show my flying saucers to them. Japan is the home of the tentacle fetish.

Why did Amatsukaze and Akashi turn red? I don't want to know.

* * *

I've let Akashi repair my rigging. I took the most damage so she has to spend more time repairing it. So for now I'm going around without my rigging. To be safe, we transferred my radar suite to Sakawa. I hoped she could mount it while my rigging was under repairs and surprisingly she could. Barely. This means we still have radar coverage.

I also spent time out of my armor. Even with help it took about ten minutes to get all the pieces off. Plus there was the damage. Fortunately the damage control fairies can help Akashi out in repairing my stuff. The armor held up of course, but I don't fancy my chances if they had kept up a sustained bombardment. Akashi also said the damage may have been worse if I had taken armor piercing rounds. She might have had to surgically remove them if they got caught in my armor. It seems the Abyssals loaded high explosive shells expecting to take on lightly armored enemies and not knowing I had heavy armor. I can't blame them, carriers don't usually have 31 cm armor plating.

Since it would still take a long time to repair I took a break on the beach. Sakawa and the destroyers were catching up while they kept watch. They were hardly scratched since they simply ran from the enemy. Needless to say, I had a lot of time until Ryuuhou got back.

While waiting Sakawa and Akigumo told their story.

"We met up on a small island chain pya. We were exploring, looking for hints as to where we were and what we were doing there." She began.

"Our compass was weird too. It kept going in circles for some reason." Akigumo added.

"While exploring, we ran into one of those battleships with the shields. We didn't know what she was but as soon as she saw us, she started shooting at us pya! So rude!"

"With the size and noise of her guns, she had to be a battleship. No way were we gonna be able to take her."

"It's a good thing too, 'cause not long after she began chasing us, we ran into another one! So we had to run from the both of them pya! All the firing must have brought the others 'cause we ran into another battleship with a destroyer. Not long after we ran from that one, we saw the last battleship and its escort trying to cut us off. So we just broke away and ran away at full speed."

"If it hadn't happened to us, I'd have thought it was funny." Akigumo grumbled. "So what's your deal?" she asked me.

"I'm kind of the civilian caught up in all this."

"You? What kind of civilian has an aircraft carrier with guns all over the flight deck?!"

"I know right? I was a civilian before I died. Then I woke up with all the stuff you saw on me. I joined up for mutual protection. I guess you could say I'm a mercenary or private military, a sort of security business with over-the-top weapons. You can blame my… benefactor for that."

Sometime after the conversation Ryuuhou returned with more shipgirls.

* * *

From the north, Ryuuhou found the biggest group yet: the destroyers Harusame, Hayashimo Kiyoshimo, Tokitsukaze, Isokaze, the light cruiser Ooyodo, and the standard carrier Unryuu.

Harusame is a Shiratsuyu-class destroyer. She wears a black sailor fuku with white collar, A white beret, and has pink hair and red eyes.

Hayashimo and Kiyoshimo are Yuugumo-class destroyers who have a similar outfit to Yuugumo and Makigumo.

Tokitsukaze and Isokaze are both Kagerou-class destroyers. At first I thought they differed in dress. However, under careful observation, it was more that they differed in the way they wore their uniforms. Where Isokaze has a similar outfit as her sisters Maikaze, Urakaze, and Tanikaze, her top is more elaborate and she has an antenna as a hair pin. Her hair is black. What also sets her apart is her sock. She has one long sock on her left leg, and a short one on her right leg.

Tokitsukaze differs by not wearing a skirt and ties the hem of her shirt off to her left side. She does wear black pantyhose however. Also, her short black hair ends in two tufts of white for some reason. Finally, she has a funnel for a hairbow like Amatsukaze.

Ooyodo for some reason has a sailor fuku similar in design to Akashi's including her blue skirt. She has long black hair and blue eyes. What sets her apart is her Fleet Command Facility that she carries. Supposedly, she was meant to be a fleet flagship.

I haven't mentioned it before but now that I'm off duty and have time to think about it, I can finally notice Ooyodo's and Akashi's skirt. Before I was busy with survival and stray thoughts but now that I've noticed, both girls seem to have a triangular shape cut away on the side of their skirt that shows off part of their hips. The skin is distracting, like zettai ryoiki. It doesn't help that they also have that going for them with high socks and their somewhat short skirts.

Unryuu is our new standard carrier. Unryuu is… rather unique with her white hair, I think grey eyes… her tiny skirt and generous bosom. TO be fair she has high socks and… I'm not quite sure what to call it but it seems to be some kind of sports bra. It is elaborately designed. To be honest, I don't know what to call it. Unlike Ryuuhou and what I know of your usual Japanese standard carrier, she uses shikigami as her planes and her flight deck unfold from her staff. She has one of those staves that Buddhist monks use.

With this we now have one submarine, 17 destroyers, 2 light cruisers, a repair ship, a light carrier, a standard carrier, and a battlecarrier.

Submarine: I-19

Destroyers: Urakaze, Hamakaze, Yuugumo, Makigumo, Uzuki, Naganami, Maikaze, Hatsukaze, Amatsukaze, Tanikaze, Yamagumo, Akigumo, Harusame, Tokitsukaze, Isokaze, Kiyoshimo, Hayashimo

Light Cruisers: Sakawa, Ooyodo

Repair ship: Akashi

Carriers: FAFNIR (Battle), Ryuuhou (Light), Unryuu (Standard)

We had a total of 24 ships, three of them capital ships.

We now had to address two problems. In our meeting later that evening, I sat at a table with Akashi, the light cruisers, and carriers. The destroyers hung around the area, chatting, catching up, eating, or just listening in.

"Right, now that we've gotten this big we need a leader." I said, broaching the first subject. "If we get larger, it brings even more complications. A leader is needed to unite us and give us direction. First off, as a technical civilian, I'm automatically disqualified. I have little confidence in uniting and inspiring the fleet. The commander of this fleet must be experienced and commissioned in the military. At best, I'm a guest non-commissioned officer. So it falls to you." I explained. But first I digressed. "Just so we're clear, are any of the destroyers willing or able to be the leader?" I asked.

"I don't think so." Ryuuhou said. "They see us as either their senpai or sensei, so there will probably be trouble with commands if one of them got the job. They look up to us for direction, regardless of experience since we're supposed to be bigger and stronger." She explained. The others nodded.

"So it comes down to you." I said, meaning all of them.

"Uhm, just so you know, I'll probably be busy with repairs so I wouldn't make a good leader." Akashi contributed.

"That's true. The leader should also be the most experienced, or at least have a lot of experience to properly deal with the varying personalities in the fleet." I added.

"If it's experience then I have no confidence pya." Sakawa said dejectedly. "I only got to fight one battle against some planes I couldn't hit. I was made too late."

"Umu. When I was finished I couldn't even carry planes since there were no more to give me." Unryuu added.

"To be honest, I would work better as a secretary." Ooyodo offered. "My experience as the Combined Fleet Flagship was during retreats when the previous flagships were sunk or scuttled. As for experience well…" she said while turning to Ryuuhou. "Ryuuhou-san was also Combined Fleet flagship briefly, but her experience eclipses mine since she spent time as the submarine flagship Taigei. She has around eight years more experience than I." She paused dramatically. "If anyone should be our leader, I believe Ryuuhou-san has unmatched seniority and experience." Ooyodo got nods from all around. Ryuuhou was blushing at the attention.

I smiled a bit. "I've got no problems with this arrangement. Now on to the next problem: our comrades. We have 24 ships all in all. It is possible to mount two missions to the other places at the same time. Do we risk doing things right, or doing things quickly. If we send two groups out to bring in the others, they might run into problems too big for them. But they could also need help now. As evidenced by Sakawa-san today, not all groups may be able to win. On the other hand, Unryuu-san's group showed that not all circumstances may be the same."

From what I heard, Unryuu's group ran into a few Abyssal destroyers. They actually spent more time trying to find each other than fighting or running.

"If we send the majority of the fleet to one place, we are likely to guarantee their safe return. But that also means we would delay the reinforcements of the other group."

"Is it possible to send two groups?" Ryuuhou mused out loud.

"Let's assume we can for argument's sake. We should send someone with radar and sonar to prevent ambushes. Who has them?"

"Hamakaze, Uzuki, Yuugumo, Isokaze, you and I have radar. Urakaze, Tanikaze, Amatsukaze, Naganami, and Makigumo have sonar." Ooyodo informed us.

"Those who do not have radar or sonar are Maikaze, Hatsukaze, Yamagumo, Akigumo, Harusame, Tokitsukaze, Kiyoshimo, and Hayashimo."

"So if we divide the larger ships first, we could get Ryuuhou and Sakawa in one group, Unryuu and Ooyodo in another group. This way, their experience balances each other out. In the meantime, the backups could be Akashi in one group and me in the other."

After hashing out the details, we came up with this fleet composition:

First Fleet: Ryuuhou, Sakawa, Isokaze (AR), Hamakaze (SR), Amatsukaze (3), Tokitsukaze

Second Fleet: Unryuu, Ooyodo (AR), Yuugumo (SR), Makigumo (3), Yamagumo,

Third Fleet: Akashi, Uzuki (AR), Urakaze (93), Naganami (3), Hayashimo, Hatsukaze

Fourth Fleet: FAFNIR (A/SR), Tanikaze (93), Maikaze, Harusame, Akigumo, Kiyoshimo

We tried to prioritize having a radar and sonar operator in each fleet to prevent ambushes. There were those with surface radars (SR) good for all-around use and those with air radars (AR) which were better at picking up airplanes but could be used as an early warning for surface ships. I had both hence the A/SR designation.

There were also those with passive sonars (93) and active sonars (3). Those with passive sonars had a harder time than active sonars, but active sonars also gave away their position.

Priority was given to the First and Second Fleets. The Third and Fourth fleets only sortied in case of emergency. If a ship needed repairs, Akashi would sortie. If a fleet was in trouble due to heavy ships such as battleships, the fourth fleet would sortie. Akashi needed the extra detection capabilities since she's so important, and even if I did get ambushed I could tank a torpedo or two.

For some reason, Harusame was discovered carrying around a barrel of fuel. She was put in my fleet since she could resupply me.

Since it was feasible, we decided to go ahead with this plan. We would hit the remaining two places with these arrangements.

* * *

I'm beginning to wonder…

"Wahaha! Just leave it to Madam Tanikaze! No bombers can hit me!"

"We'll dance into battle and leave them breathless! We're the fast reaction force, Fourth Fleet!"

"Sensei, don't worry about your refuel! I'm good at transport missions!"

"Ufufu, the Fourth fleet lead by a knight-in-shining armor, our Fafnir-sensei! Gotta draw this!"

"Battleships can carry planes, and now even carriers can become battleships?! So cool!"

…did I get all genki girls?

* * *

Author's Notes:

Sorry about the delay. I was busy moving to my new/old home. It didn't help that the weather here is extreme and I got a headache the day before yesterday which prevented me from updating. Then I forgot to add Unryuu's and Ooyodo's descriptions.

Out of curiosity, does anyone know how good the Essex-class radar was compared to the radars used in Kancolle? I'd like to know how much better the range and quality is. All I know is that Allied radar was generally better especially towards the end of WW2.

Has anyone spotted the progression of ships yet? There's actually a background reason why I put them in the story. It just so happens that the lineup of ships allowed me to reenact Midway.


End file.
